HAGERSTOWN, Md. — Police video shows an officer in Maryland pepper-spraying a 15-year-old girl who refused to cooperate after her bicycle hit a car.
The body-camera video was released after an attorney for the girl’s family posted a bystander’s video on Facebook, expressing outrage and accusing the officers of “aggression from the get-go.”
The girl pepper-sprayed by police said she fought the officers because she was dizzy, confused and scared after her bicycle hit a moving car, briefly knocking her unconscious.
The girl and her mother spoke to reporters Thursday outside Hagerstown police headquarters while about 100 people demonstrated nearby, demanding accountability.
At a news conference Thursday, Hagerstown Police Chief Victor Brito insisted his officers initially tried to de-escalate the situation.
The police chief said officers only used pepper spray as a last resort to get the girl inside a cruiser and off to the police station as a potentially dangerous crowd began gathering.
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